Cannabis News Roundup: January 25, 2013

(ASA) // The US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC this week ruled against de-classifying cannabis as a dangerous drug, saying "adequate and well-controlled studies" on cannabis as medicine do not exist. An appeal is expected.

(Seattle Post) // “Very satisfying” is the way Washington state Governor Jay Inslee described a conversation Tuesday with US Attorney General Eric Holder concerning that state’s need to implement voter approval of recreational cannabis. There was no discussion of how the federal government might react in the future.

(HuffPost) // Here in California, the question remains: can a city pass an outright ban on cannabis dispensaries? Riverside and Upland think so. So did Los Angeles, for a while. But how can that be legal when state law permits them? Those are some of the questions to be considered next month by the California Supreme Court. [Holly Kernan and I touched on this topic in our on-air discussion of cannabis news on "Crosscurrents" last week.]

(SFGate) // President Obama’s second term started this week, generating reviews of his first term. Confusion on medical marijuana is one of five “broken promises” listed in this summary from his first four years.

I think this needs a clarification, though. The President said the Justice Dept. wouldn’t go after “medical marijuana users,” but he didn’t say it wouldn’t go after dispensaries. I know, I know: they're two sides of the same coin. Where do users safely acquire cannabis if the dispensaries are shut down? It is a puzzlement.

And it’s a question that Matt Davies of Stockton had answered the hard way; he faces seven years in prison after his dispensaries were raided. This story, by the Chronicle’s conservative columnist, points out that the Justice Dept. has always said that “significant traffickers of illegal drugs, including marijuana” are a priority, even though their activities may be legal under state rules.

(MJBusinessDaily) // That said, the Medical Marijuana Business Daily sees positive news for the industry in 2013, not the least being the list of states considering some sort of cannabis regulation.

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(ASA) // Advocacy group Americans for Safe Access is claiming a court victory after the California Supreme Court this week “denied depublication” of a closely watched cannabis dispensary case from San Diego. One element: the Attorney General argued that members of cannabis collectives had to contribute in some manner to the cultivation of the cannabis they purchase. The court did not agree.

"People often forget that at the turn of the last century, drugs were entirely legal," says Bay Area resident Dale Gieringer, coordinator of the California chapter of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.